Catholic school community gives teacher’s family a home makeover |
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Written by LAURIE STEVENS BERTKE, Chronicle Writer
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Friday, 03 April 2009 01:00 |
TOLEDO—After the family of one of their teachers was passed over by "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" last fall, members of the Toledo Central Catholic High School community decided to take matters into their own hands.
Thanks to their efforts, Brian and Sue Clark and their children no longer have to put out buckets and cover their kitchen floor with towels every time it rains. They don’t have to worry about their sewer line backing up into their basement, either.
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The Clark family, from left, Sue, Melissa, Connor, Brendan, Brian,
Tricia, and Ashley are pictured outside their south Toledo home last
September. (Chronicle photo by Angela Kessler) |
And soon the family will be able to gather in a remodeled kitchen with new appliances and reliable electrical wiring, something that has long been lacking in their 84-year-old south Toledo home.
"It’s overwhelming," Mr. Clark says of the outpouring of support his family has received from students, faculty and staff, alumni and others in the community.
Though he feels humbled and honored by their kindness, Mr. Clark notes one thing he is not is surprised — "That’s what our school is like," explains Mr. Clark, a teacher in the social studies department at Central Catholic since 1982.
The Clarks, who belong to Toledo Our Lady of Perpetual Help, have lived in their home for nearly 19 years. The couple says their original motivation for applying to be on "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" was their desire for more space so they could continue caring for foster children, something they had done for 19 years in addition to raising four adopted children.
Mrs. Clark estimates they fostered between 80 and 100 children in that time, most of whom had special needs. But as their own children got older, their home, with its one bathroom, three bedrooms and a dormer, became insufficient.
"We always liked to do babies, 2 and under especially, and our kids were getting too old to share bedrooms with little babies," explains Mrs. Clark, so they gave up fostering several years ago.
The Clark household currently includes their four children — Melissa, 22, Tricia, 21, Brendan, 18 and Ashley, 17 — their 11-month-old grandson, Connor, and a 21-year-old woman who is a family friend.
Mrs. Clark says their children have a range of mental heath issues that make it difficult for them to live on their own.
Last summer, the family became a finalist in Ohio for "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" after producers of the television show received a petition on their behalf with about 5,000 signatures. Started by a family friend, the online petition had circulated at Central Catholic and throughout the wider community, garnering many positive comments from former students about the impact Mr. Clark had on their lives.
"The response was overwhelming," says Michael Kaucher, principal of Central Catholic, who describes Mr. Clark as a teacher who is well respected by both his students and his peers.
"It’s interesting to see around Christmas break or around Easter break when a lot of our graduates come back and visit folks, and one of the first teachers they go to see is Brian Clark," adds Mr. Kaucher. "That tells a lot, it really does — the impact that he’s made on his students."
When the Clarks were not selected for the episode of "Extreme Makeover" that filmed in Toledo last fall, the school community decided they still wanted to do something to help the family.
Mr. Kaucher met with the Clarks last fall to develop a list of five priority home improvement projects, beginning with the installation of a new sewer line.
"Through our connections and through Central Catholic alums, we got that project completely taken care of at no cost," says Mr. Kaucher.
A new roof was installed last fall. With the labor donated by Central Catholic alum Mike McGrath of Imperial Construction and Roofing and the materials donated by Owens Corning, "about an $8,000 roof project cost us $2,600," says Mr. Kaucher.
That cost was entirely covered by donations from the community.
The remaining projects include updating the electrical wiring in the home — where blown fuses are a common occurrence — and remodeling the kitchen and painting the home’s exterior.
Water damage from the formerly leaky roof is still visible in their kitchen, where an entire section of the ceiling has caved in to reveal bare studs. Many of the kitchen drawers are missing, the garbage disposal and dishwasher are broken and the family has to pack the refrigerator with bags of ice and frozen water bottles in the summer to keep it chilled.
Churck Barchick of Barchick Custom Homes and Tony Kern of Westfield Electric, both Central Catholic alums, are spearheading the kitchen remodeling and electrical projects, respectively.
To fund those projects, Central Catholic High School is hosting a benefit concert May 1. Mr. Kaucher says the goal is to raise $25,000, to complete the last three projects at the Clark home.
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Last Updated on Thursday, 04 June 2009 09:10 |
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